Avid Announces Softimage DS Version 3.0 Enters Beta; Customers Evaluate Extensive New Features and Significant Performance Increases.

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 10, 1999--

Avid Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVID) today announced at SIGGRAPH '99 that Avid(R) Softimage DS, Version 3.0 has entered active customer beta testing and is expected to ship by the end of the year. Softimage DS 3.0, the company's versatile, integrated post-production studio for creating and finishing a wide array of projects, introduces new performance and functionality levels for the Softimage DS system.

In mid-July, Marc Kleinmann, Digital Artist, Bednarz Film, Inc., could not wait to load his Softimage DS system with the Version 3.0 beta software he had just received. "I saw a preview of Version 3.0 at NAB this year, but it did not prepare me for the amount of new capabilities and improvements that had been incorporated. I was amazed by how much had been added. The new interface is fantastic to work with and the Effects Tree is unbelievable. I just built an effect that took me about an hour in 2.1 and in about 10 minutes it was complete with the tree in Version 3.0. I think the development team did an incredible job on this new release of DS." Kleinmann is one of fifteen customer sites rigorously testing the development effort and stability of Softimage DS Version 3.0.

"Softimage DS Version 3.0 significantly extends the versatility of the system," said John McQueen, Avid Vice President, Product Marketing for Softimage. "With substantial performance and timeline editing enhancements, plus the new 3-D DVE, advanced titling and Effects Tree, DS is even better suited to meet the diverse, no-excuses-accepted environment post companies typically encounter in creating and finishing a broad range of projects from TV programs and commercials to high-end corporate work."

Woody Sherman, Senior Managing Editor, Henninger Charlottesville, could not agree more when it came to choosing a system for Henninger's new location in Charlottesville, VA. "The point was to set up a shop that could offer sufficient depth in the editing, graphic, and audio arenas to meet most agency and corporate needs. I think if you're looking for an integrated solution with true "finishing" capabilities, the DS wins hands down."

Version 3.0 represents the greatest number of new features incorporated into a single version of Softimage DS since its initial release. The new version incorporates hundreds of new capabilities, improvements, and dramatic performance increases across all aspects of operation of the system, focusing on enhancing timeline performance, providing streaming capture and many other optimizations to ensure that Softimage DS gives the best possible performance. Softimage DS will extend the flexibility of its software-based processing approach to include support for OpenGL hardware acceleration for 3-D functions, further accelerating the performance of the system for graphics and effects-intensive productions.

"I'm in editing heaven, the Swift Menus are really cool and you can cut really fast with them," said Aries Brooker, DS Editor of Aldis Animation of the new, lightning fast, gestural style of navigation and trimming featured in DS Version 3.0.

Softimage DS Version 3.0 Enhancements Include:

--Editing Enhancements - New capabilities have been added to improve the speed and efficiency while working in the Softimage DS timeline. The capabilities include global markers, support for multiple selection and lassoing of a series of clips, larger, easier to select clip and trim handles and greatly enhanced navigation and trimming using a lightning fast gestural style called Swift Menus.

--Advanced Titling - Utilizing technology from Softimage Marquee(tm), Avid's resolution-independent 3-D title animation package, digital artists will be able to generate layered 3-D titles, with individual character kerning, extruded text and textures and lighting -- all from within Softimage DS.

--3-D DVE - A fully integrated advanced 3-D DVE enhances the compositing environment in Softimage DS to include image manipulations in a 3-D environment, supporting unlimited layers, multiple light sources, true depth of field, displacement mapping and a powerful user interface.

--Effects Tree - This new set of compositing tools expands the effects capabilities of Softimage DS by using a process tree interface, similar to that found in Softimage Media Illusion(tm). Now in addition to the unlimited timeline tracks and compositing layers views already found in Softimage DS, users will be able to build composites with a graphical tree view expanding the creative flexibility and efficiency of building sophisticated composites.

--New Keyers and Keying Improvements - New real-time chroma and luma keyers have been added with improved quality and controls.

--"Mix and Match" Compositing - Editors and digital artists will be able to effortlessly mix image material from sources at any resolution in a single sequence. This provides, for example, the ability to smoothly pan over a large background sequence or to combine computer generated or natural sources independent of their resolution.

--Integrated Elastic Reality(tm) Warping and Morphing - The warping and morphing from Avid's Award winning Elastic Reality, the most advanced warping and morphing engine on the market, will be available fully-integrated within Softimage DS. Leveraging the consistent interface conventions of Softimage DS along with ER's intuitive shape-based controls combined with Bezier curve technology, the new Warp/Morph effect for Softimage DS will provide easy shape creation, keyframing and editing of dynamic warps and image morphs.

Availability

The complete turnkey multi-stream systems, consisting of Softimage DS Version 2.1 software and Intergraph Computer Systems StudioZ GT Workstations with dual-Pentium III 500 MHz processors, plus video storage from Avid, are currently available through authorized Softimage DS resellers worldwide. Customers who purchase between now and September 21, 1999 are eligible to receive a free upgrade to Version 3.0 including the OpenGL hardware that accelerates the new 3-D DVE and 3-D titling functionality. For additional information, customers can contact their local authorized Softimage DS reseller or 800-949-2843.

About Avid Technology, Inc.

Avid Technology, Inc., of which Softimage Co. is a subsidiary, is an international, industry-leading provider of digital audio and video tools for information and entertainment applications. Avid's products are used by a variety of customers worldwide including film, television and interactive content producers, TV news broadcasters, corporate communicators and consumers. For more information, visit Avid's Web site at www.avid.com or the Softimage site at www.softimage.com.

(c)1999 Avid Technology, Inc. All rights reserved. Product specifications are subject to change without notice. Avid, Elastic Reality, and Softimage are all registered trademarks and Marquee, Media Illusion and Symphony are trademarks of Avid Technology, Inc., or its subsidiaries or divisions. All other trademarks are contained herein are the property of their respective owners.